Fiancé?

Queen?

Engaged?!

What the bloody hell.

It all made sense now. Him quickly brushing off the possibility of us being mates and not being affected by my presence as much as I am of his.

I was here fawning over some guy who was about to get married, for god's sake!

I ball my fist tightly as my heart clenches painfully. Taking deep breaths, I try to calm myself down. I will not shed a single drop of tear over something as minute as this. I have overcome death. This is barely a problem compared to what I have been through.

Then why is it so hard to breathe?

I slam all my deceiving thoughts shut. It's not like I had any expectation, to begin with. Closing my eyes, I take deep breaths as I unclench my fists. After a few minutes, I flutter my eyes open again, now calmed.

The entrance was now empty except for a few guards and butlers. I notice that the king and the rest of the guests have moved inside, back to the party. Picking my steps, I walk back into the ballroom again, with a brave facade.

Unlike what I thought, the party was not back to its formal glory. Several guests were still missing and ones who took care of their 'frog' issue were sitting in the room's corner resting. The rest were either busy tending or laughing at their fellow guests.

Those little brats! One cannot imagine what nefarious deed they are about to commit.

I look around for the triplets, but it seems like they have quickly fled the crime scene. A wise decision as I can only imagine what Luanda would do if she gets her hands on those three after their stunt tonight. Several housemaids rush into the now half-empty ballroom at Luanda's order and try to catch the slimy creatures jumping about everywhere.

Looking around, I notice that the king and princess Anastacia was nowhere to be found.

He probably took her away from this chaos.

Placing my tray and drinks aside, I join to help them. After several failed attempts at catching them manually, the housemaids give up and use magic to trap them. Which seemed to work efficiently and after about half an hour, the ballroom was free of every unwanted slimy creature.

The guests were slowly returning after fixing themselves and the music picks backs its volume. Soon enough the party was back at full swing and the guests were talking and laughing even more loudly. I was glad to see that they took the incident from earlier lightly and were now having a laugh about it. But the triplets sure would be in trouble. The king had put too much effort into this party to let it slide. Just as that thought passes through my mind, I hear the announcer clear his mouth loudly.

The king quickly raised his hand to stop him from announcing their entrance. Giving a small smile to the crowd, he walks towards the middle to the ballroom with princess Anastacia in his arms. Slow music reaches my ears as they begin their first dance. Others soon follow their lead. The ambiance of the ballroom shifts to a calmer, more romantic one.

My eyes follow their movements as they slowly dance, occasionally losing sight of them as they disappear behind guests. Seeing him smile sweetly and hold her lovingly was definitely hard to watch. But surprisingly I find myself not being as hurt as I was before. The reality of the situation daunted me. It was time I accept the truth. And my pep talk with myself earlier did help too.

"Hey, would you like to dance?"

I turn around and my eyes lock with pale blue ones.

I furrow my eyebrows confused. I quickly peek over my should to see if he was talking to someone behind me. Seeing that no one was looking this way, I turn back now even more confused.

"Are you talking to me?" I ask, pointing my index finger at myself.

"Yes, you," he says, a sly smile tugging on his lips.

"Umm, I think you're mistaken. I am not a guest here, I'm working actually."

"I'm definitely not mistaken. So, would you like to dance?" he repeats himself, unbothered by my comment.

"Sorry I can't, I am working right now." I raise the tray in my hand as an indication.

"So it's a yes. I didn't say you have to stop working now did I?" I stare at him confused.

What is this guy blabbing about?

As if hearing my thoughts, he steps closer and circles his hand around my waist. He slowly raises my left hand and places them on his shoulder and places his free hand below the tray along with my right hand, helping me support it.

"Now we can dance and work at the same time," he says smiling.

I let out a soft laugh at his cute antic and try to focus on my steps as we slowly move to the beat of the music.

"You dance well."

I nod quietly not sure how to reply as I too just found it out now. Noticing my destress, he quickly changes the topic.

"What's your name?"

"Emerald."

"Umm Emerald," he rolls the name in his tongue, testing it.

I take the opportunity to look at him. The warm light in the ballroom made his blonde locks look almost golden, his strong jaw was relaxed as a lazy smile tugged on his lips.

I smile back. Liking the vibe that surrounded this guy.

"Yes, Emerald, Emery for short."

"I like Emery better."

He slowly dips the hand holding the tray to let a guest behind me take a drink.

"What about you? what's your name?"

"Maximus. Max for short." He says with a wink.

He sure knew how to dazzle a lady. But not this one.

"Ok so Max, why did you ask me for a dance?" I ask, genuinely curious.

"Not to offend you, but you were standing there looking as if someone just killed your cat so I had to step in and cheer you up."

I laugh letting him know that I am not offended.

We dance for a few minutes, talking about random topics and I begin to ease up to him. Almost forgetting the crazy events of today. Almost. I feel a gaze bore into the back of my head and turn around, sure enough, a pair of green eyes were looking at me curiously. I send a small nod of acknowledgment his way before focusing back on Max again.

After a few more minutes of dancing, I excuse myself to actually get back to work. Muttering something about me being boring, Max lets me go and I walk back to the buttery to refill the drinks again.

Quickly doing my job, I hurriedly get out of the tiny dark room and walk back to the ballroom.

That room sure was spooky.

I stop dead in my tracks when I hear someone talking.

"So did he agree?"

"He said yes."

"That's good news right?"

"It is, but he has a condition. He wants me to get-"

Realizing that it was the king and his alpha having the conversation, I quickly do a 180 not wanting to get caught eavesdropping by the seven-foot beast man.

I hear a pair of footsteps follow me.

Stupid werewolf hearing.

Realizing that I already got caught, I turn around and come face to face with the king.

"Look, I did not mean to eavesdrop. It was an accident. I did not hear-" I begin,

"I know," he says cutting me off.

"Umm, ok I'll go then," I say awkwardly shuffling in my feet.

"Wait. Luanda mentioned that you wanted to speak to me?" he asks, his eyes twinkling in the dark.

Ah shit.

I did mention to her. To talk to him about my so called heat situation. But that was before I found that he is engaged to someone else. Trying to figure out our 'scent' situation seems useless now. I try to come up with something to ask.

"Ah yes. It was about the plan you mentioned before. Any progress on it then?"

What a save!

"Yes. I wanted to talk to you about that,"

I nod at him, wanting to hear an explanation.

"We will leave for the kingdom of Ikkina in a fortnight. Your training starts tomorrow."

***

like and comment.